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Photograph of The Arcade
Photograph by Michaelsavoy, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Arcade, The

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“The Arcade is an historic building at 31 Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1870s, it is one of the best preserved buildings on Circuit Ave, and is further locally significant as housing the offices of the Oak Bluffs Land and Wharf Company, which was responsible for much of the early development of the town of Oak Bluffs.”

Wikipedia article The Arcade (Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts), CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 11 National Register listings in Dukes County · listed in 1994 · category: Building · one of 1 National Historic Landmarks in Dukes County.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 134 Circuit Ave., Oak Bluffs, 02557
  • When was it listed? 1994-08-05
  • Category. building
  • Township. Oak Bluffs town
  • National Register reference number. 94000813 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

29 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 29 fires within 5 miles of Arcade, The between 2015 and 2020, burning about 16 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning15
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Equipment and vehicle use3
Recreation and ceremony2
Fireworks1
Smoking1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Recreation and ceremony1.3 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
20 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
9 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
29 July 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
14 June 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
9 May 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control5009542

Every fire recorded in Dukes County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 14,701 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 14,701 specimens collected within 10 miles of Arcade, The between 1828 and 1975: 8,456 Animalia, 4,103 Plantae, 1,084 Chromista, 747 Fungi, 147 Bacteria, 118 Unrecorded, 46 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A AND P STARRETT, A B Seymour, A. A. Cohen and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
A photograph of the species Tipularia discolor, not of this specimenTipularia discolor (Pursh) Nutt.1828OakesMartha's Vineyard
A photograph of the species Polysiphonia flexicaulis, not of this specimenPolysiphonia flexicaulis (Harvey) F.S.Collins1839unknownWoods Hole
A photograph of the species Ectocarpus littoralis, not of this specimenEctocarpus littoralis (L.) Lyngb.1841B. F. D. RunkWoods Hole, Nobska Point, wash
A photograph of the species Polysiphonia fibrata, not of this specimenPolysiphonia fibrata (Dillwyn) Harvey1844Collector unknown
A photograph of the species Alosa aestivalis, not of this specimenAlosa aestivalis (Mitchill, 1814)1852not recordedWood's Hole, Massachusetts.
A photograph of the species Clupea harengus, not of this specimenClupea harengus Linnaeus, 17581852not recordedWood's Hole, Massachusetts.
A photograph of the species Menidia menidia, not of this specimenMenidia menidia (Linnaeus, 1766)1852not recordedWood's Hole, Massachusetts.
A photograph of the species Prionotus evolans, not of this specimenPrionotus evolans (Linnaeus, 1766)1852not recordedWood's Hole, Massachusetts.
A photograph of the species Ulva clathrata, not of this specimenUlva clathrata (Roth) C.Agardh1852G. W. Perry
A photograph of the species Acanthurus bahianus, not of this specimenAcanthurus bahianus Castelnau, 18551899not recordedWoods Hole, Massachusetts
A photograph of the species Alosa pseudoharengus, not of this specimenAlosa pseudoharengus (Wilson, 1811)1899not recordedMassachusetts, Katama Bay near Edgartown
A photograph of the species Balistes capriscus, not of this specimenBalistes capriscus Gmelin, 17891899V. EdwardsWoods Hole, Massachusetts

All 14,701 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Arcade, The: 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Dump Road PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Red Hill Pit and PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Dukes County

Storms near this property

8 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oak Bluffs, the town this property stands in, in 8 storm reports between 2000 and 2020: 4 flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2017LightningOak Bluffs$1,000At 6:16 PM EST, a house was struck by lightning on Great Rock Road in Oak Bluffs.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindOak Bluffs$500In Vineyard Haven, a tree and wires were reported down on California Avenue and on Hudson Avenue.
May 2020FloodOak Bluffs-The intersection of Circuit Avenue, Narragansett Avenue, and Kennebec Avenue was flooded. An officer was on scene to assist motorists.
May 2020FloodOak Bluffs-County Road at Webaqua Road in Oak Bluffs was closed due to flooding, as was Worcester Avenue, Carol Lane at County Road, and the intersection of Norris Avenue and Wing Road.
May 2020FloodOak Bluffs-Nantucket Avenue was closed for several hours due to flooding.
July 2017FloodOak Bluffs-At 112 PM EST, a car was stuck in flood waters on Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs.
November 2014Thunderstorm WindOak Bluffs-An amateur radio operator in Oak Bluffs recorded a wind gust of 62 mph on their home weather station.
May 2000HailOak Bluffs-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Dukes County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

From the nomination file

4,425 words on record

When this property was proposed for the National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is, and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain. It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s typewriter's.

Statement of significance

Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.) [X A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. X C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type,period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. L D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.

Criteria Considerations (Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.) Property is: - A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes. - B removed from its original location. -C a birthplace or grave. - D a cemetery. - E a reconstructed building, object, or structure. - F a commemorative property. -G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past50 years.

Dukes County, MA County and State Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) ARCHITECTURE COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT Period of Significance 1871 - 1944 Significant Dates N/A Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) N/A Cultural Affiliation N/A Architect/Builder Pratt, Samuel Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) 9.

The whole case file for this property - 4,425 words, 17 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 94000813, 17 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Tucker, Dr. Harrison A., Cottageunder 500 feet1990
Union Chapelunder 500 feet1990
MVCMA Tabernacle0.1 miles2005
East Chop Light1.0 miles1987
Ritter House2.3 miles1977
West Chop Light Station2.9 miles1987

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 94000813 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Dukes CountyAll 11 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.